The women’s hockey team’s woes continued against a tough Maine squad which was apparently undeterred by the 10-hour bus ride to Ithaca.
The Black Bears swept their two-game series with Cornell this weekend, holding the Red scoreless in both games. Untimely penalties and mistakes plagued Cornell, and its offense could do little to help. The team has yet to score a goal this season.
In the first game on Saturday, the Red’s problems were painfully apparent. Throughout the contest, the offense could do little against the Black Bears’ defense. Maine was up 1-0 after a power play goal in the first period.
Then, early in the second, the Black Bears turned defense into offense when sophomore Meagan Aarts stole a pass to score a goal, unassisted. Maine continued its run, scoring another unassisted goal 38 seconds later to gain a commanding 3-0 advantage. The Black Bears’ fourth and final goal came later in the period when Aarts scored again on the second of two consecutive power plays.
The second game yesterday afternoon started off with more of the same. Maine score two goals in the first period, one on a power play and another as the result of a Red defensive lapse when Cornell couldn’t manage to clear the puck out of its own zone.
However, the Red showed improvement in the last two periods of the game, putting pressure on the Black Bears’ goalie, Dawn Froats. Froats, however, stood strong against the Red, stopping 22 shots on her way to the second shut-out of the weekend.
There were some bright spots in Cornell’s performances.
“We have a solid foundation,” said head coach Carol Mullins.
She pointed to solid efforts from Red goalie junior Sanya Sandahl, who made 20 saves in the second game and senior captain Jenel Bode’s all-out play on defense.
“We did pretty well keeping the puck in the zone, we just have to put it in the net,” said Mullins.
And if Cornell’s offense can find its feet, the team should be able to score some goals and win some games.
It’s certainly not giving up. Mullins made her team’s intentions clear. The Red will make adjustments.
“We’re trying to find the right combination, the scoring touch,” she said.
Archived article by Matt James